Development and sustainability of an inpatient-to-outpatient discharge handoff tool: a quality improvement project.

Background: After hospital discharge, patients are at risk for medication errors, missed test results, adverse events, and readmissions. Handoff communication between the inpatient and outpatient settings is primarily accomplished with the discharge summary. However, critical information can often be missing, such as the date of the first postdischarge follow-up visit, a complete and accurate list of discharge medications, and follow-up recommendations.

Enabling bone formation in the aged skeleton via rest-inserted mechanical loading.

The mild and moderate physical activity most successfully implemented in the elderly has proven ineffective in augmenting bone mass. We have recently reported that inserting 10 s of unloaded rest between load cycles transformed low-magnitude loading into a potent osteogenic regimen for both adolescent and adult animals. Here, we extended our observations and hypothesized that inserting rest between load cycles will initiate and enhance bone formation in the aged skeleton.